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IFF done correctly (meaning only the target gene+promoter+any regulatory genes are inserted), I don't believe that there is a problem. Genetic engineering is simple in concept, but in practice, it's a PITA. Tons of things can go wrong - wrong DNA sequence isolated and gene inserted, several genes inserted, promoter/regulatory sequences have adverse effects on other genes, yada yada yada.

IMHO, they're fine for the most part. The issue with the crop producing the bacterial toxin was a huge oversight on the part of the company producing the plant and this definitely calls for very strict testing of the foods, which I do think the FDA is doing in the states.

Um from the same peole that says agent orange was safe for humans. Used to have roundup as biodegradable. Crooks are taking farmers to court for growing their product when seeds blow in. Wod go into moer detail but typing on a phone sux.

If you get a GMO product that isn't safe for human consumption, you probably have a corrupt or incompetent government agency.

GMO food are tested MUCH more strenuously then non gmo foods. The thing people SHOULD be concerned with is the legality of seed saving, what happens to an environment over many generations, how will it affect change in the insect populations, and these studies take much more money time and legislation --- all of which they deserve.

I spend a lot on money at the farmers market doing restaurant buying, and have 25-30 tomato plants in my garden, and while I see abuse of workers, carcinogenics pesticides, wasteful southwestern irrigation, and under regulation of gmo foods....There is still almost no greater improvement made to modern health and global security than scientifically sophisticated global food production and distribution. Immunization beats it out in my book but not much more. People need to expect more from regulatory agencies instead of demanding the impossible of small local farmers.

I don't normally swing this far in this direction but I just listened to this guy speak lol

Well, the video is made to scare and to some degree I hope it does scare people into a bit more awareness. I lived in Europe for quite some time before I relocated back to the US and I was bit shocked at how little the term GMO was raised, how few times it popped up in the news, and how little people understood what GMOs were. And though I don't like many of the developments that companies like Monsanto and other chemical companies are doing in this area, there are a lot of other negative consequence that rarely get publicized. The Franken Tomato is headline grabbing, but there are other problems too.

* This isn't just about one farmer choosing to buy Monsanto seeds and pesticide to increase his yields. The GMO crops can migrate to other fields and cross pollination can spread them to other species. So the organic farmer next door is ultimately also at risk -- his crop can be polluted by GMO crops quite easily. And all it takes is a GMO product finding a sexually compatible weed and off it goes. Escaped transgenic plant populations happen, so it is only time before that tomato that withstands the cold passes those traits onto another plant/weed, which then allows that plant to spread to climates where it normally couldn't grow. So a GMO plant/weed hybrid in Kansas may eventually destroy a potato crop in North Dakota because it can now handle the cold.

* The 'benefits' of GMO crops are also very sketchy outside of industrialized row-crop ag countries such as the US and Canada. The 'miracle' corn and plant seeds cost more PLUS they are often linked to that company's pesticides. In developing countries you might buy the seed for better yield BUT you are also stuck buying their expensive pesticides and equipment to apply it. GMO is not a revolution to feed the world.

* Additionally, even though it seems somewhat logical to take a naturally occurring pesticide or bacteria and insert it into a plant's DNA to combine the benefits (people have been hybridizing plants for hundreds of years), a lot of insects are quickly becoming resistant, and the benefits of many naturally occurring pesticides are now being lost to the world. It's not much different than antibiotics becoming less effective in humans from overuse and misuse. The percentage of crops lost every year to insects is actually rising even though the amount of chemicals being used by farmers is much larger. Sure, we may get the benefit for several years of higher crop yields, but eventually we are losing those valuable natural traits that have kept things in balance for so long -- but hey, at least Monsanto got 20 years of good profit from wiping out a bacterial benefit of nature that has been around for millions of years

* And call me crazy, but the idea of Monsanto having patent rights to a food/seed and making farmers obtain a license to work the crop annoys me. And btw, if your neighboring field ever gets infected by spillover GMO seeds, companies such as Monsanto have sued farmers for working their 'food' without license. So they will exercise their patent rights when it suits them, but when their seed breeds with a weed and creates an invasive species causing costly damage, they somehow don't care about their patent claim. It's the American way: privatize profits and socialize risk.

So IMO it is not just about the icky idea of eating a fish tomato, GMOs are supercharging biodiversity changes in ways that can cause other harm too.

Well, the video is made to scare and to some degree I hope it does scare people into a bit more awareness. I lived in Europe for quite some time before I relocated back to the US and I was bit shocked at how little the term GMO was raised, how few times it popped up in the news, and how little people understood what GMOs were. And though I don't like many of the developments that companies like Monsanto and other chemical companies are doing in this area, there are a lot of other negative consequence that rarely get publicized. The Franken Tomato is headline grabbing, but there are other problems too.

That is because the GMOs in Europe are very strictly regulated and not many foods are GMO there.

* The 'benefits' of GMO crops are also very sketchy outside of industrialized row-crop ag countries such as the US and Canada. The 'miracle' corn and plant seeds cost more PLUS they are often linked to that company's pesticides. In developing countries you might buy the seed for better yield BUT you are also stuck buying their expensive pesticides and equipment to apply it. GMO is not a revolution to feed the world.

corn, wheat, rye, watermelon, bananas, everything else we grow and eat, are GMO foods. plucking the bad looking plants or using a retro-virus, it's all exactly the same. this county doesn't really like science, is the problem. Europe has crazies they can't shoot. that's their problem.